TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — One worker was killed and several others burned after multiple explosions rocked an industrial plant and sparked a fire that sent plumes of thick, black smoke over the small town of Brent on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

Up to a half-dozen other workers received chemical burns and were taken to nearby hospitals after the Wednesday afternoon explosions and fire at Brent Industries, The Tuscaloosa News reported. A helicopter was used to fly one of the workers to a hospital, the newspaper reported.

Police identified the worker who was killed as Keith Leverette.

Frederick Anderson told WBRC-TV that he went to look for his father, who works there, moments after the initial explosion. Anderson said he spotted him running from the plant, on fire.

“I jumped the fence and ran to him. As I ran to him he was shaking really bad, burnt real bad,” Anderson told the Birmingham station.

Anderson said his father has burns all over his body.

“But he is doing OK,” Anderson said. “He responded. He’s strong, he’s going to pull through.”

None of the burning chemicals posed a danger to the community, Brent Police Chief Terry Nichols told the Tuscaloosa paper.

The cause of the blasts was still undetermined Wednesday night, as flames consumed the manufacturing and recycling plant that employs around 30 people in Brent, about 35 miles southeast of Tuscaloosa.

A massive tower of black fumes could be seen from miles away soon after the initial explosion around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday and at least four more explosions that followed, The Tuscaloosa News reported. Townspeople spent the afternoon in their front yards, watching as fire trucks from around the area arrived to battle the blaze, the newspaper reported.

“I had just poured something to drink,” said Leroy Phillips, 18, who lives near the plant. “I heard a boom and my cup just dropped to the floor.”